Kids who are into esports learn early how to interact with technology and often teach themselves skills like coding, marketing and video production. The reality is, esports offers arguably even more benefits when it comes to college and potential career opportunities. “In the end, what is impactful is jobs and things we see like increased graduation retention rate.” “Is esports a sport or not a sport? Who cares?” quipped Hughes during the panel.

The panel was geared toward young esports players and their parents, who may see playing video games as a pastime that doesn’t offer any of the benefits of “real” sports. Hughes, clinical assistant professor of sport management at Georgia State University Christopher Turner, GM and head esports coach at Southern University and Derek Pew, CEO of Harena Data, the company behind the Esports Combine. The Fall Brawl panel “From Da’ Games to Degrees,” moderated by this reporter, featured David C. Aside from cash prizes for the winners, Fall Brawl was an official qualifying event for the upcoming virtual Esports Combine, the largest college recruiting event dedicated to esports, in October.

Gamers Kingface_88 of Lewes, who won the Fortnite Solos Tournament, is just 8 years old MPg of Hockessin, who won the Smash Bros. These kids could have been anywhere, but they wanted to be with us and learn more about FFG, gaming, video production and everything else.” five of them rode their bikes all the way back to the theater to come back and kick it with us.

“These kids from Wilmington came to the event as part of a chaperoned trip organized by the William “Hicks” Anderson Community Center,” said FFG cofounder Stephen Sye. While it had been scaled back due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, the hybrid event with an in-person Penn Cinema component gave a glimpse of what esports can be in Delaware - gaming on giant screens, sharing resources and making the industry accessible to a new generation of underrepresented gamers. Futures First Gaming’s (FFG)2021 Fall Brawl reset the bar for esports events in Wilmington.

Kid playing video games